Later this week, some consumers may push aside the dinnertime poultry on Thanksgiving night in favor of Walmart and Target.

Retailers' continued pushes to one-up their competition and elongate the holiday shopping season -- which historically accounts for roughly 20 percent of their annual sales -- have resulted in store doors opening sooner each holiday season.

FlatIron Crossing mall in Broomfield and other big box retailers have plans to open at 12 a.m. Friday. For the first time in its operating history, Englewood-based Sports Authority moved up its Black Friday openings chain-wide to midnight.

"We're taking that approach this year to try to be part of the mix," said Jason Davis, district manager for the sporting goods chain. "I think people get pretty hyped up coming out for deals."

As national retailers are banking on the off-hour sales to help them land a share of the half a trillion dollars expected to be spent this holiday season, some Boulder-area businesses are hoping efforts such as Small Business Saturday and potential backlash from the Thanksgiving openings could boost their holiday traffic.

"In past years, it's been less busy because it's Black Friday," said David Krease, general manager of Wasted Sun apparel shop on the Pearl Street Mall. "This year ... (the early openings) might help to keep some of the locals downtown."

'Retail is back'

Employee Amanda Sienkiewicz decorates a Christmas tree at Clutter Consignment in Boulder last week. The shop is participating in Small Business Saturday this year.
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JEREMY PAPASSO
)

Overall holiday sales are projected to climb this year, with ShopperTrak predicting a 3.3 percent gain and The National Retail Federation pegging a 4.1 percent increase to $586.1 billion.

The National Retail Federation's sales forecast is above the 10-year average of 3.5 percent but 1.5 percentage points down from the sales gains made in November and December of last year.

In early October, National Retail Federation officials called the forecast "pragmatic" given the state of the economy.

Concern heightened last week, however, after October's retail sales fell 0.3 percent. The association's CEO and president wrote to President Barack Obama pleading for a fiscal cliff resolution by Black Friday.

"Rather than setting New Year's Eve as its deadline, Washington needs to act quickly to set in place a framework for resolving this situation, preferably before Thanksgiving," Matthew Shay, the federation's president and CEO, wrote in the letter. "Demonstrating the ability to work in a bipartisan manner will ease consumers' worries and avoid severe economic consequences during the single most crucial spending season of the entire year."

Donald Lichtenstein, provost professor and chair of the marketing division at the University of Colorado's Leeds School of Business, said he doesn't anticipate fiscal cliff concerns to weigh on shoppers' minds.

"That's an abstract concept to most consumers," he said.

Lichtenstein said he expects sales to remain flat as compared to last year, adding that he does not expect the Thanksgiving Day openings to deter many shoppers.

"If you ask consumers about the Christmas shopping season getting started so early they would say, 'I think it's just terrible and commercialized,'" he said. "However, if the deal comes up that they want, and they can get it with a substantial savings, they'll be out there getting it, too."

J.T. Fulton, property manager at Twenty Ninth Street mall in Boulder, has not reined in his expectations for a strong Black Friday and holiday shopping season. The open-air retail center has posted sales gains for 24 consecutive months, he said.

"My expectation is that will continue," he said. "From (tenants') perspective, retail is back. People are out spending. They're out almost every day."

'Don't need a deal that bad'

Expectations also are high in downtown Boulder for a strong Small Business Saturday. About three dozen merchants and restaurants are participating in the American Express-sponsored initiative to spur sales at small businesses, said Terri Takata-Smith, a spokeswoman for Downtown Boulder Inc.

Sean Maher, executive director of the local nonprofit that supports and promotes downtown Boulder businesses, said the effort raises awareness about locally operated enterprises.

"We've had a couple of great holiday seasons," he said. "I can't imagine it's not going to be another great year."

Patty Ross, owner of Clutter Consignment, at 1909 Ninth St., said she has noticed that Small Business Saturday has gained momentum in recent years. She also expressed hope that the earlier openings could persuade residents to shop local.

"It'll be interesting to see if there's an uptick," she said.

Boulder resident Wendy Worrall Redal said she was disgusted to see Thanksgiving being usurped into the "holiday shopping season."

She recalled growing up in Seattle and heading downtown on the weekend after Thanksgiving to see the department store windows dressed for Christmas. The experience was special, she said, and made the idea of shopping fun.

"Now I have done a complete 180 over the years, especially in the last decade," she said. "It's like I make a point on principle not to go shopping on Thanksgiving weekend."

"It's normally one of my favorite things to do," said Saucedo, 33. "I like a good bargain."

During the past five years, Saucedo and her husband would wake up at 3 and hit stores at about 4 a.m. to buy Christmas presents at discounted prices.

But what used to be fun grew frustrating this year, she said.

"When it encroaches into Thanksgiving ... we can't even take one whole day off and say I'm thankful for this," she said. "People have to go to work. The economy's driving this to the point where all of these people who make minimum wage or just a little bit more are having to leave their families at 6 o'clock to go prep the stores.

"I think that's sad. I don't need a deal that bad."

Instead, Saucedo participated in a Just Between Friends sale to buy toys for her children from other local mothers and plans to frequent locally operated merchants for other gifts.

"It's just something I can feel good about at the end of the day," she said.

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